Abilene mother who survived deadly apartment fire comes home

It was a bittersweet morning as local mother Ashley Hardy was welcomed home by her family, a day that many people have been waiting a long time for.

"They kept telling us she wasn't going to make it, but we kept telling them you don't know Ashley, Ashley is strong, she is determined, she's hard-willed, and she doesn't know, y'all just don't know her, she'll make it, she'll pull through, she's a fighter," said Theresa Reed, Ashley's mother.

Hardy lost her 4-year-old son Liam last July to smoke inhalation after the Warwick Apartment Complex in South Abilene caught on fire.

Ashley says Aiden, her other son who survived the fire, is an instrumental reason for her to keep on fighting to stay alive and regain the normal human functions she had before the fire.

"Just trying to keep strong with each other and he's giving me a good reason to keep on fighting," Ashley said.

Hardy was originally transported to the Timothy J. Harnar Regional Burn Center at University Medical Center in Lubbock, but as her condition improved, she was moved back to Abilene and treated at Hendrick Medical Center.

Ashley's parents say now that it's all about getting her independence back and having her being able to do the things she loves again.

"So she can be back doing what she wants to be doing, which is being a mother and taking care of her family," Theresa said. "Now we've had a lot of loss and things are never going to be the same, but hopefully, this will be a start of a new chapter, we will start all over."

Hardy and her family want to thank everyone for their endless prayers and well wishes during her recovery process.